Win 10 last upgrade borked my Mobile BB

I switched my 3 laptops (kept in different locations, but using the same dongle / SIM) to Win 10 at the end of July. To my relief the Mob BB still worked OK, though the setup and connecting is STUPIDLY complicated and tedious.
However, earlier last week some upgrades were auto downloded (not the Aniversary I think), even though it's not supposed to happen over 'Pay as you go' connection (can't se how to set that....!)
And then none would do Mob BB, 'cos they would not 'see' the Mob dongle !
Eventually I got the oldest to work, but still no go with the other too. Hours later I figured out the second one was trying to use the on board landline modem, hence complaining of 'no dial tone'...!
The third one was stubornly refusing to use the dongle, although the 'device manager' could see it.
Thinking that new driver may help I searched the net, but could not even find one for my rather ancient Huawei E160 !
At best I got directed to various websites which offered to scan my machine and update ALL drivers, but I didn't find one I could trust....!
In the end I located the drivers on my now working laptops and discovered that they were dated 2008, but
the 3rd one had a 2011 version. So, after overcaming the 'you need permission' hurdle I replaced the driver with the old one and after still furthrer fiddling I managed to get the 'device manager' to discover it and then with more fiddling to get the laptop to 'use it !

Gee, thanks M$ for needlesly wasting dozen hours of my time !!!

You might want to consider moving away from a USB dongle to avoid these driver issues, as will only get worse if the manufacturer has stopped supplying firmware updates for Windows 10 (and by dates looks like they never did)

http://amzn.to/2btM15z One of a growing number of 4G SIM slot routers, so you can then use Ethernet or Wi-Fi locally

also many mobile phones can be configured as mobile wifi hotspots

Or, if you need 4G access while mobile, can I suggest a portable MiFi-style device.

We have a Huawei E5372, but it looks like the current models are either the E5377 or E5577.

So much easier than messing about with drivers for USB dongles - and usable by multiple devices.

Thats an option too Though I'd not recommend the MiFi devices for full time home sharing

As a general rule avoiding USB for any form of networking is a good idea.

Hardly MS's fault. Drivers are written by the hardware manufacturer, not Microsoft. All manufacturers are offered the opportunity to be part of the beta tests of a new operating system, so they can develop stable drivers before release. If they choose not to do so it's because they have no interest in wasting their time updating old products as they would rather sell you something new. There is no profit from from writing drivers for older hardware

M$ should NOT be 'messing up' with drivers for equipment that is not M$, at least NOT without permisssion or even disclossing what it has done !!!

As it happensI have Draytek router which can handle Mobile BB / SIM, but I could not get it to work reliably, but more to the point, it isn't as easily portable as USB dongle.

We would still be on Windows 98 in that case, since the life cycle would be so slow for any upgrades to an operating system

I have considered using a Mobile phone, but I would need a dual SIM one, and probably have to carry a charger with me a all times....

A new operating system is a new playing field. It's up to the company who manufacture the hardware to ensure compatibility, not Microsoft.
According to your thinking, Microsoft should contact everyone in the world who has a PC or Windows Laptop and give them details about all the changes that will affect every piece of hardware made (and whilst they are at it every piece of software) and ask for permission. That would work, wouldn't it?
Anyway you probably already given permission when you click on the "Agree" button during installation accepting Microsoft's Terms and Conditions. I'm sure they've got it covered.

Edited by deleted (Mon 29-Aug-16 23:35:01)

You are absolutely correct.

I use a e8278 usb stick with win 10 drivers that also has a mifi capability when used with an external battery back like the ravpower ace 22000 mha pack

The usb dongle has a fold away usb and can take external antennas

M$ don't need to contact anybody, just make their software to say:
'Your copmputer may need new driver for XX, would you like to update ?,
then when it stops working we would know why.

In reply to a post by martinsq:

M$ don't need to contact anybody, just make their software to say:
'Your copmputer may need new driver for XX, would you like to update ?,
then when it stops working we would know why.

They can only issue such a prompt if the driver in question has been compatibility tested with the OS version and patch level in question. Microsoft only know about driver versions that have passed WHQL testing, not about drivers for an older OS that happen to keep working on a later version (which is the scenario you were in) or drivers never submitted for WHQL testing. I don't believe Microsoft undertake routine testing of WHQL tested drivers following OS updates.

Product lifecycles for most hardware are short. For many low priced products, such as a mobile broadband USB dongle, there might never be any driver and firmware updates, and what updates there are will often cease shortly after the product is discontinued.

M$ knowledge of drivers is irelevant, they sloud in ALL cases advise if they propose to make change and get, and respect, a Yes or NO anwser .
Admitedly, most people might not get the relevance, but would at least realise that if something has stopped working it would likely be the driver change.

I'm sure the intelligent and savvy don't need to be treated like children and told the bl**ding obvious and the rest wouldn't understand (or care) and do what they always do and click "YES" anyway.
They being the same people who signed up for PPI without understanding what they were doing.
The world is following the McDonalds "Hot Apple Pie - Warning Contents May Be Hot" syndrome.
Anybody who was that concerned would check that their hardware was compatible with the manufacturers and that the relevant drivers were available to download, before contemplating an upgrade.

Edited by deleted (Fri 02-Sep-16 00:20:04)

As Roger has pointed out, warning on every potentially incompatible change is pointless. Most people would ignore the warning and still complain when things go wrong.

All Windows users must realise that drivers are produced for a specific version of Windows and, especially with cheaper devices, there is no guarantee of driver support for a future version of Windows. With Windows 10, where there are periodic feature update releases, it might be that drivers that worked initially failed after one of these updates, especially if the drivers were for an older version of Windows that just happened to work on Windows 10.


By your own admission, your mobile broadband USB device was rather ancient. Using it with a newer version of Windows that was officially supported was at your own risk, and it broke with Windows 10 Version 1607. That is nobody's responsibility but yours. You had the choice to stick with an older version of Windows (as I did on an elderly but still useful laptop, as I knew there were no drivers for key hardware for Windows 10) or buy a new but supported device. A warning of potential compatibility issues does nothing useful - it would discourage the cautious from installing vital security updates and it could not prevent the "suck it and see" process of checking compatibility with your hardware. You can roll back a Windows 10 upgrade for a short period if you hit problems with the new OS.

A replacement for your old USB device will not cost much - indeed, there's likely to be plenty of early 4G dongles on eBay by now. Windows hands the task of compatibility checks and driver updates to the user. You need to deliver on your obligation.

most of the mobile dongles now use USB to network witch windows 7 and up support natively with no drivers, it just shows up as a network card and if the OS supports it will show signal on network icon bottom right and fire up the dongle home page as well when you plug it in

the old way was very hacky way to do it as it would first show up as a cd drive then once the drivers was installed it then switches to modem mode witch sometimes does not happen (witch the E120 you have a lot of problems with windows 8-10 and higher)

just replace the dongle with a 4G one from last like 0-3 years and you be fine and mark it as Metered connection (widnows 8-10 should detect that automatically on the more recant dongles) or get a hotspot one (again make sure you mark it as metered as that stops any automatic updates in windows 8 and up)

Edited by leexgx (Wed 21-Sep-16 12:55:09)